Girl from iconic Great Depression photo: 'We were ashamed'

CNN ^ | 12/03/2008 | By Thelma Gutierrez and Wayne Drash

[JimSEA]

MODESTO, California (CNN) -- The photograph became an icon of the Great Depression: a migrant mother with her children burying their faces in her shoulder. Katherine McIntosh was 4 years old when the photo was snapped. She said it brought shame -- and determination -- to her family.article here

[john in springfield]

She says she'll never forget the lessons of her hard-working mother, who died at the age of 80 in 1983. Her gravestone says: "Migrant Mother: A Legend of the strength of American motherhood."

[PowderMonkey]

My Dad's stories of grinding poverty, starving family members afflicted with rickets and dieing of scarlet fever, the loss of their farm, and surving the great depression were enough to make you swallow hard and think to yourself “could I have survived all that?” They certainly did, but it affected them all their lives. My Dad starved as a boy. As a consequence, he insisted on keeping our refrigerator jammed full. If he could stick his clenched fist into an open spot, he went out and bought something to fill the void. If upset or bothered by insomnia, he would get up in the dead of night, and stare into that solid-packed refrigerator. It calmed him. House lights were kept on, at home or not. He dreaded coming home to a darkened house. When air conditioning came along, he kept the thermostat so low that frost would form on the windows in the summer. He had come far in life. Very far indeed. We had an air conditioned house with its own dedicated phone line (no party line for him!)And best of all, he reveled in the fact that my mom could buy her own car with her own money. We had not one, but TWO cars in the driveway! A far cry from that starving depression-era farm kid he once was. Sometimes I feel ashamed at what's become of the country he and his brothers fought for and entrusted to us.

[Peter Horry]

“And shame on CNN for the headline “We were ashamed.””

I seen sadness and steely determination in her face, CNN describes it terms they are familiar with and think we should feel.

[Scythian]

PowderMonkey, that’s says it all. Our citizens are not prepared for what is coming, they will not strive hard, instead, they will become violent and take, steal, and murder because they were entitled to thier former lives.

[imfrmdixie]

I have loved this picture for a long time. I have it saved on my computer. It represents the true heart of America. But, you know, this is the first time I noticed the baby in her arms. I concentrated on her face and the fact the children were so shy and hiding from the camera that I didn’t see the baby. Now I love it for another reason....she was certainly pro-life. She had her babies, loved them, took care of them and protected them no matter how bad it was for her...and for them. This should be the face of pro-choice. She looks determined but not unhappy.

[day10]

Compare and contrast the circumstances/stories surrounding these 2 pictures - both of which have been posted on FR today:





See here for the story of the botton picture: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2142155/posts

[imfrmdixie]

Mistake, mistake...meant pro-life....not pro-choice.

[the long march]

No. I agree with you. This woman is not only beautiful but the depth in her eyes. I love Lange’s work; she had an eye that always could see the end result. She knew this woman and her children would help, but she also recognized her true beauty.

[Our man in washington]

A very nice picture.

But the depression would have probably been over by 1936 when this picture was taken if Roosevelt hadn’t wrecked the economy with his idiotic policies. People show pictures like this to show why the government needs to help the downtrodden, but the truth is that if the government had just gotten out of the way in 1933, it would have been a lot harder to find poor people in 1936.

[JimSEA]

We don't seem to want to work for our living anymore do we. My Grandfather lost his ranch in Eastern Oregon but managed to salvage enough to open a small grocery at age 60 in Reno. He was the stepson of a saloon owner/gambler from Lakeview (OR) but he would lecture his customers about the stupidity of gambling.

[B-Chan]

My mother is the youngest of twelve children of a family of Mississippi sharecroppers. She had this same experience as a child in the 1940s.

[edzo4]

don’t worry choosing life is still a choice

“pro choice” is just another liberal ploy so that they can smear you by implying you are against ‘choice’ then they can pretend that thier ‘choice’ isn’t murder..

[InsensitiveConservative]

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm

[blam]

"My mother is the youngest of twelve children of a family of Mississippi sharecroppers. She had this same experience as a child in the 1940s."

The woman in the picture is from Alabama.

[Wonderama Mama]

Powder Monkey, your description of you dad brought tears to my eyes. You described both my parents who are Depression Era generation. My dad felt so lucky to have a job as a newspaper boy where he made 2 cents a day. He would always take that 2 cents and buy apples for half a cent each, so his siblings would have something to eat that day. Amazing people and truly the strength of this country.

[imfrmdixie]

Thank you....I often try to make that same statement...pro-life is also a choice....thanks for sharing my thoughts.

[tbw2]

You’re right. Women have always worked, raising kids, cooking, cleaning, bringing in the crops. The concept that women ONLY raised the children and kept house is an industrial revolution concept, and only for middle and upper class at that. Otherwise, the women were pitied and lesser than me for doing hard labor AND raising children - while men only had their trade or job. That’s why they had the civics sphere, because the women were really doing what today would be considered TWO jobs.

[imfrmdixie]

See....Alabama is a state with beautiful women who value family and hard work....”beings” I’m from there originally....

[blam]

My dad’s story about hiding the one horse plow down the water well, when the bank came to repossess it, has stayed with me all these years. He said they would have starved without that plow.

[PowderMonkey]

Calls to mind something that makes me smile every time to this very day. My Dad and his brothers strived for that “inside job” (office). One that required a suit and tie every day. Those were the hallmarks of having “made it” in life. After long and rewarding careers, they all insisted on being clean-shaven, keeping that spit shine on their shoes, and wearing a tie every day despite being retired gents. If stepping out they always wore the classic snap brim Wormser hat or Stetson Fedora. They said, “we don’t want people to think we’re no-good, outta’-work bums.” God bless ‘em. I do miss those guys very much.